Communiqué for NOTL Ambassadors and our Partners!

January 2025 

THE LEADERS' CORNER

From Your Co-Leads Laurie Harley & Vlad Haltigin

Welcome to 2025! Another New Year has dawned, and the NOTL Ambassadors are already busy planning for their upcoming season!

The NOTL Icewine Village & Festival was held on Queen Street during the last two weekends of January…. another local prestige event that NOTL Ambassadors have eagerly supported. They proudly volunteered their time to make this traditional event even more welcoming and exciting for its many visitors. Read on for more news about this ‘experience to remember’. A record number of interactions with visitors took place in the Icewine Village.

Continuous learning is a keystone of the NOTL Ambassadors program and planning is well in hand for educational visits during the spring & early summer to local cultural & historical sights & attractions as well as wineries, hospitality & arts locations, and to merchants with unique offerings…… all great information to share with visitors to encourage these visitors to patronize NOTL establishments.

Our membership continues to grow and the Ambassadors have already held an Information Session for prospective new Ambassadors. Another is scheduled for early February at the NOTL Museum.

The  Ambassadors team now comprises 82 volunteers, all eager to continue to play their part by being the welcoming face to both residents & visitors from far & wide.  

It promises to be another banner year for the Ambassadors, so look out for many more exciting updates.

Thank you for all you do to support our community and beautiful town!

Laurie and Vlad

Tourism NOTL

New Director of Tourism Services - Brianne Hawley

Please join us in welcoming Brianne Hawley to Tourism NOTL!

Brianne Hawley is a seasoned destination marketing and event management specialist with extensive experience in the Canadian tourism and beverage industry, focusing on both domestic and international markets since 2007. Her expertise spans trade, consumer, and liquor board promotions, as well as event planning and marketing strategy development.

From 2009 to 2014, Brianne worked with the California Wine Institute’s Canadian offices, championing the California Wines category through impactful trade initiatives, consumer activations, and promotional campaigns. A graduate of Niagara College’s Tourism Marketing Business Development program, she further honed her expertise with a postgraduate certificate in Wine Business Management.

Brianne has held diverse roles in tourism and wine education, including her time with Niagara College’s Canadian Food and Wine Institute as Coordinator of Continuing Education and Corporate Partnerships, while also serving as a part-time instructor for beer and wine programs. From 2021 to 2025, she was the Marketing Manager for Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake, where she successfully promoted tourism activations for a collective of over 20 wineries. Her portfolio also includes contract work for Napa Valley Vintners, managing promotional activities across Canada.

In recognition of her contributions to the industry, Brianne was honored with the Ontario Hostelry Institute’s Top 30 Under 30 award in 2015.

Currently residing in Niagara-on-the-Lake with her husband and two children, Brianne remains passionate about promoting wine, food, and tourism experiences that celebrate the unique character of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

EXPERIENCE NOTL

Icewine Village 2025 - An experience to remember

Ask any of the 49 volunteers on the Ambassador Team to describe their experience at the 2025 NOTL Icewine Festival and they’ll tell you they had fun – not without a share of “hiccups” to be sorted out for 2026 – but a great start to the vision of a  Reimagined Village. 

From the Preview Reception on Friday evening January 17, hosted by the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake, to the soggy first Saturday, to the chilly winter weather that followed, to the evening IceHaus party and cocktail competition on the second Saturday, there were a lot of very happy visitors on Queen Street.  They strolled among the vendors, tasted the culinary treats, or relaxed in the heated Snow Globes.  There were craft activities for the younger guests in the Fun Igloo until Mother Nature stepped in on the final Sunday with high winds that meant it had to close.    

Ambassadors, draped in our colourful blue and white scarves, filled many roles from Shuttle Bus Welcome Station at Niagara College, to Guest Services in the VIP Lounge, the Concierge Stations, the Snow Globes, to our more traditional role of greeting visitors as they entered the Village. 

In total, we engaged with a WHOPPING 8802 visitors. While we don’t have financial results yet, all initial indicators point to a highly successful event.

It was a pleasure to work with the staff at Niagara Grape and Wine Festival and team up with their volunteers and students from Niagara University and Niagara College on our shifts.  As volunteers, you made a lasting impression on the event organizers.

To quote Craig Swanson, Senior Regional Manager Eastern Estates for Arterra Wines Canada:

"The NOTL Ambassador group are not only a kind, friendly group of people that worked as the first point of contact for the NOTL Icewine Festival, but they were an engaged, communicative partner in the planning process. They represented the guest during the planning cycle and ensured we were focusing on the areas and interest of guests, bringing the insight they've gathered through thousands of interactions to date.  When it came to execution, they were on time, professional and ready to work. Our festival would not have been the success it was without the amazing NOTL Ambassador team, and we are fortunate for their partnership and continued support."

YOU ARE OUR “DREAM TEAM”.

NOTL Museum Events

If you are interested in learning more about our lovely town, the Museum has a number of events you may be interested in.  There is an upcoming series on the Historic Homes of NOTL.  They are free virtual events, but you will need to register in advance to participate.  Click here to review and register. 

Historic Homes is a series of four Zoom presentations (1 hour each, starting at 11 am) comprising the following:

Feb 5: Linda Fritz - Glencairn Hall
Feb 12: David Hemmings - The Rand Estate
Feb 19: Brian Marshall - The Plumb House & the Peter Secord and David Secord Houses in St. Davids.
Feb 26: Richard Merritt - The Wilderness

All four presenters are highly regarded, so the experience should be worthwhile.

Ambassador Team

Ambassador Team expands

Our first Information Session for new prospective Ambassadors was held on December 16th. The information session included a presentation by the Leadership Team, highlighting the program and the roles and responsibilities of a NOTL Ambassador.  We had a great turnout at this first session and 15 new Ambassadors signed up for our 2025 program and several attendees even signed up to volunteer at the 2025 NOTL Icewine Festival Village. 

Shout outs to the following new Ambassadors for braving the chilly weather on Queen Street greeting visitors to the Village and welcoming them at the Concierge Tent.  

Carol Bell
Mary Garratt
Carol McCulloch
Laura Sadak
Linda Sicinski

Our next information session will be held on February 5th at the Niagara-on-the Lake Museum from 10:00 am to 11:00 am.  If you know of anyone who wishes to learn more about the Ambassador Program and join our fantastic team, please direct them to our website for more information.

We are so grateful to each and every NOTL Ambassador for your commitment, your enthusiasm and your special talent for making our Town such a special place to visit. 

Co-Leads: Vlad  & Laurie

Leadership Team: Cheryl, Elena, Kathryn, Patti, Shelley